5 Mar
2007
5 Mar
'07
11:38 p.m.
Here is an outsider's view on the debate which is all about a formalistic (not to say meaningless) vs a meaningful name. There seem to be only very few occasions in mathematics when the formalistic name won, C*-algebras being a prominent example. In category theory, one is reminded of the hot debate of triples vs monads of the 60s and 70s. I guess that at the time of the "Zurich triple book" (SLNM 80) most people would have predicted that triples had already won the race. Mac Lane's book CWM appeared only 2 or 3 years later, after a vast amount of literature on triples. But he consistently used the meaningful name monad, even though (as far as I know) he had never directly published on the subject. You be the judge who won! Walter Tholen.